Cold Blossoms
by Metronome I Hear
Summary: Fate is a series of coincidences. Fate is the build up of choices of everyone in the world, all affecting one another in a snowball of decision. Should something change, more often than not everything else changes with it. AU! Sharingan/EMS!Naruto Indra!Naruto Asura!Sasuke YAOI Rated M for eventual Violence, sexual themes, and Hidan. NaruIta ItaNaru I don't own Naruto
1. Chapter 1

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Fate is a series of coincidences.

In the Naruto universe, the life of Uzumaki Naruto is pivotal in the story that we know. Any changes to his life, even tiny ones, can lead the entire world off into a different direction than which is seen.

Case and point.

What if Uzumaki Naruto was born Uzumaki Naruko?

The differences with Naruto being a woman instead of a man, by itself, would be nothing less than astronomical. It would alter the entire relation between Naruto and the many people that he interacts with on a daily basis. Perhaps, by the time when what we see as 'Canon' starts, Uzumaki Naruto wouldn't be Uzumaki Naruto at all, but instead something completely different.

Within his life there are a great deal of things that had to come together to make his life the way it was. First, the Fox had to be sealed within him, his parents had to die, and he had to grow up alone. He had to become the dead last of the class and develop a rivalry with one Uchiha Sasuke. Not only that, but it goes beyond what his actions are and things that directly affect him, too.

The Uchiha massacre had to happen to make Sasuke who he is when Naruto and Sasuke get placed on the same team. Should that have never happened, then already the lives of everyone in the elemental nations is already changed. Things from before Naruto was born had to happen the way they did as well. Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara had to meet at the river that one faithful day and become friends, elsewise Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina would have never even met, and perhaps they wouldn't have even been born. The clan wars had to have been fought, and certain clans would have had to have been formed and long before any of that having happened even more things would have had to have happened.

Let's start at the very beginning, shall we?

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Many millennia ago, the entire world was at war. There were no ninja; only samurai, mercenaries, bandits, and thugs. Many different factions fought and the world was not only in chaos, but it was beyond corrupt. And above it all grew a single tree, a God Tree, called the Shinju. For Naruto to be who he is, the fruit that the tree grows would have had to have sprouted at the same time that Kaguya Otsutsuki was alive. She would have had to have eaten said fruit, brought peace to the world, and had two twin sons by the names of Hagoromo and Hamura. The twins would then go on to defeat the Juubi, the creation that the Shinju made to take back its Chakra, and seal it inside of Hagoromo. Hagoromo would then have to go onto have two sons.

Two sons who would play a huge role in the many millennia that would follow.

The younger of the two was named heir, and the elder, wishing to take that seat for himself, fought the younger for his seat. They, Indra and Asura, fought until they died and _continued_ to fight _**into death**_.

Their chakras refusing to die, reincarnated into their descendants and forced their ideals onto the clans that they founded, the Uchiha and the Senju respectively. They would, eventually, incarnate into the young Uchiha and Senju heirs, Madara and Hashirama.

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Fate, as I already said, is a series of coincidences.

The two boys would meet at a river and become friends. Two boys, who under normal circumstances would have never met outside battle, managed to both leave the compound on the same day, at the same time, and go to the same place, and see one another. This meeting would one day lead to the founding of Konoha, as well as one of the greatest rivalries ever seen in History.

It also lead to one of its greatest tragedies.

For Madara lost his younger brother to the younger brother of his friend and went mad.

Konoha was founded, even after the death of Madara's brother, but the madness had already taken root within the eyes of Uchiha Madara and one day, he snapped and left the village. He would later come back and try to destroy the village, only for Senju Hashirama, his friend, rival, and the only man who ever truly understood him, to stop him. Madara escaped, unknown to Hashirama, and time continues onward while Madara plans.

And plans…

And plans…

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The Third Shinobi war.

This war was, perhaps, far more important than the previous two that it followed, but not because of why it was fought or for its ending, but instead for the people who fought within it.

For Naruto to become the person that he is, several things would have had to have happened to several important figures within his life and in the lives of those close to him. Example:

Uchiha Obito.

The Battle of Kannabi Bridge.

This event, which changed the lives of all the people involved, is a large part of what leads to who Naruto is. Uchiha Obito, who influences Hatake Kakashi into becoming who he is and later on causes Naruto to become the Kyuubi Jinchuriki and to grow up alone. And Kakashi, who gains the Sharingan before Obito's 'death' which become a large part of who he is and how he fights. Had this event never happened, the entire person we know as Uzumaki Naruto wouldn't exist.

Because he would have never have been born the same way.

His entire upbringing would have been different, having been able to interact with both his parents, his parent's friends, as well as his parent's students. Kakashi, too, would not have been the Lazy Jounin we come to see him as, for the influence which made him become the man that goes on to be a role model for Naruto never comes into being. Instead, Obito would have taken that role, and Kakashi would be the one strict uncle that never disobeys the rules that Naruto has and grows up with.

But it did happen that way, and that lead to Kakashi causing Rin's death, Obito witnessing that death, and Obito aligning himself with the incarnation of the Sage of Six Path's eldest son gone mad. This, in turn, creates Akatsuki and thus the entire plot that we follow when hearing of the story that is _Naruto_.

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And that brings us back to the beginning.

The beginning, of course, being Naruto's birth and the Kyuubi attack.

Within Canonverse, Obito attacks Konoha, the Kyuubi is unleashed, Kushina and Minato get impaled protecting Naruto, and half the Kyuubi's Chakra is sealed within little baby Naruto. And during the whole thing, no one there realizes the 'greater power' that is coincidence that all converges on this spot.

Because Uzumaki Naruto is the latest Incarnation of Asura.

So the new Jinchuriki grows up alone, eventually makes friends, fights the incarnation of Indra in the form of Sasuke, fights Akatsuki, then a war, then falls in love with a woman named Hinata, and has two children.

All of which, is coincidence.

Tiny choices, all making the character we know as Naruto be who he is and the story that we love possible. Now I ask you this.

What if that wasn't what happened?

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**AN: Hello there! Sorry for a chapter that pretty much just talks about canon, but I was setting up some important background for this story. The next chapter will be the actual start of the story, as well as more setting things up, and getting everything in place. Quick warnings for everyone reading this:**

**This is AU! Canon gets thrown out the window immediately with a bunch of changed having been made to make sure everything will work.**

**Updates will be slow, too, because of school and other projects I have going on and because I have one of the most frustrating muses in existence. No guaranteed regular updates, but I will say this. I WILL NEVER ABANDON THIS STORY. It might take ages between updates at times, but I will eventually get this stuff posted.**

**ALSO! This will be YAOI. The Pairing will be NaruItaNaru. I will not be changing my mind on this. If you don't like it, then leave. The back button is right there so feel free to click it and find something else.**

**I do not tolerate flamers. It is frustrating and annoying whenever I get them and I delete them the moment I see them because they do nothing but lower the self esteem of the author and make everyone annoyed. So no flames, but constructive criticism is welcomes. I am well aware that my grammar and spelling is horrid and I'll probably mess up a million times a chapter, especially on Japanese names and expressions. If you see something wrong, be it plot holes, spelling mistakes, grammar mistakes, or something else that I should probably fix, let me know and I'll fix it as soon as possible.**

**Thanks for reading! Please leave a review on your way out. (One that's not just 'Update soon please')**

**11/30/15 EDIT: Spelling and grammar mistakes fixed. Minor other edits**


	2. Chapter 2

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The Uzumaki Naruto of canon is a single child, born of a union between Uzumaki Kushina and Namikaze Minato. He was born on October 10th exactly 98 years after Konoha's founding, the day of the kyuubi attack, and not only lost both his parents in the attack, but had the tailed beast that was unsealed by Obito re-sealed within him. On top of all that, the chakra that he gained when he was born happened to be Asura's Chakra, adding him to a long line of incarnations of the younger son of the Sage of Six Paths.

That was canon.

_But this isn't canon, is it?_

The Uzumaki Naruto of this story of coincidences is not a single child.

Nor was he born on October 10th exactly 98 years after Konoha's founding.

This Uzumaki Naruto never had the Kyuubi sealed within him.

The most important difference?

_This Uzumaki Naruto isn't Asura's Incarnation._

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Fate is a series of coincidences. And each coincidence creates different outcomes and drags the world through different paths.

By chance, the events of Kannabi Bridge, leading to the end of the Third Shinobi War, happened 4 years earlier.

With a difference of four years, many things change.

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October 10th, 94 years after Konoha's founding.

A woman screamed in agony, cursing and crying out as she grabbed her husband's hand tighter. It hurt, it hurt so much, and the labor had been going on for so long now. But then the pain stopped and a cry filled the air, joining another one in a symphony of two baby's wails. The adults in the room all breathed a sigh of relief. The birth was finally over.

"Give him to me," the red headed woman breathed, holding her arms out towards the nurse and smiling, even though her face was dripped with sweat and her whole body ached. The nurse promptly handed her her newly born son, and the woman smiled down at the baby boy in her arms.

"So cute..." she murmured, glancing up at her husband briefly before returning her attention to the baby, "Look, Minato. He has your hair."

Minato smiled down at her, even as he continued to hold the seal on her stomach closed, "Yeah…"

But their joy was short lived, for it was then that the sound of a body hitting the floor reached their ears.

The two turned to look, and found a man wearing a mask and a black cloak holding their other child in his arms.

"Hello there," he greeted.

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"FUIN!"

The ink surrounding the altar glowed briefly before shrinking inwards and forming a seal upon the stomach of a newborn baby girl with blonde hair and blue eyes. The Claw that had been holding the two parents up disappeared into the seal, and the wto collapsed to the ground.

Kushina coughed, blood spilling from her mouth and the wound through her abdomen as she did so, "Goodbye… Narumi… Naruto… Never forget… We love… You both…"

With that, the two died, leaving behind two fraternal twins, one with a burdin like no other, and the other bearing a destiny that could not be avoided.

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"You are certain that Tsunade will take care of them?" Jiraiya asked, looking a decade older than he really was. He had suffered great loses that day, the boy that he had taken on as his student, who was not unlike a son to him, had died. The wife that that boy had loved so much had followed him into death. The village was burning, and people were mourning for their lost ones. It bore down on the white haired sage, making his shoulders droop with loss.

"I am certain," Shimura Danzo, "Tsunade will take good care of the twins."

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"There is no need for you to stay in Konoha, Tsunade-sama. Jiraiya will take care of the twins, as is his duty as a Godfather. You are free to leave with your apprentice," Mitokado Homura assured Tsunade, even as the woman took another drink from her cup of Sake.

"Right," Tsunade muttered bitterly, gritting her teeth together, "Let Jiraiya do that…."

Konoha was cursed, she swore. Everyone died here. First Nawaki, and then Dan. Now Minato and Kushina were dead as well. The still broken buildings and dark looks on the faces of the people walking down the street haunted her. She had to get away. How horrid this place was, she wanted to get away. Why did her grandfather ever build such a place?

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"What?! They both left Konoha?!" exclaimed the Sandaime, shock and frustration marring his features.

"Hai, Hokage-sama," replied the ANBU stiffly.

The Sandaime grimaced, leaning back in his chair as he did so, "I suppose I have no choice then…. The twins will go to Konoha Orphanage."

What a mistake that was.

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Uzumaki Naruto was a genius.

He knew it too. He picked up reading, writing, and speaking much faster than anyone his age, and acted with a level of maturity that had no place in a child.

Uzumaki Naruto was paranoid.

With good reason, too. He had lost count how many times people had tripped him, stolen his things, or tried to cheat him. He had lost count how many times he had seen people trip his sister, stolen her things, or tried to cheat her. But for her, it was worse than that.

Because Uzumaki Narumi was different.

Naruto wasn't sure how she was different, only that she was and everyone seemed to hate her for it. They would shoot her hateful glares, call her horrible names, treat her worse than the other children, and would prevent anyone from going near her. And because he was her brother, all that spilled over onto him too.

But he didn't care.

He loved his sister. His sweet, innocent, little sister that would smile at him brightly no matter how many bruises she had on her arms and call him _Onii-chan_. So he protected her. Whenever an adult would try and hurt her, he would jump in their way. He was her shield, softening her pain in any way he could. Because Narumi was his sister, his precious little sister. He wouldn't let anyone touch her. And when they did, his revenge knew no boundaries.

Uzumaki Naruto learned early on that nothing is for free and that everyone had hidden intentions.

He quickly found that no one cared when he cried for help or when he was hurt. He quickly found that no one gave out charity to him. He quickly found that if he wanted something, he had to take it for himself.

So he learned. He learned to seal his emotions behind a mask that he only took off for his sister. He learned to steal the things that kept the two of them alive. He learned to never trust the adults that came to them to 'help' them.

He figured that one out when Narumi nearly died of poisoning.

And most importantly, he learned how to fight.

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Naruto and Narumi were 3 when the orphanage kicked them out. They spent exactly 3 months out on the streets, before Naruto tried to pickpocket someone who, unfortunately, was an ANBU. The ANBU reported back to the Hokage about the situation, and Naruto and Narumi were promptly given an apartment in the only section of the village the council deemed them worth: the Red-light District.

The two moved into their new home and quickly grew accustomed to cleaning off writings on the walls that said obscene things about them and the lack of hot water.

Some water was better than none, yes?

When October 10th rolled around the fourth time since their birth, Naruto and Narumi were both faced with a mob that tried to hunt them down. Were it not for the efforts of the ANBU squad now tasked with watching them, they would have not have been as fortunate to escape the wrath of the village.

It was the very next day that the now 4 year old Uzumaki Naruto went up to the Hokage and said one simple sentence.

"I want to join the Academy."

Sarutobi sighed, "No Naruto, I'm afraid I can't let you do that."

"And why not?"

"You are 4 years old, Naruto. You are expected to wait at least until you are 6 before joining the academy."

The 4 year old frowned, looking surprisingly serious, and contemplated the situation. After few moments of silence, in which the Sandaime simply watched the child think, Naruto spoke up again.

"Can we make a bet?"

Sarutobi blinked in surprise before asking, "And what would the bet be?"

"If I can tell you something you didn't know within the next 5 minutes you let me into the academy early," the boy proposed with an expression of utter seriousness, and the Sandaime couldn't help but be reminded of the late Yellow Flash.

Sarutobi raised an eyebrow and leaned back in his chair. He went over his options for a few seconds before asking, "Why do you want to go to the academy early so badly, Naruto?"

"I want to protect my sister," he replied instantly and with conviction on his face.

Sarutobi sighed resignedly, "Very well, Naruto. I'll take that bet."

Naruto nodded, "Does the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu transfer memories?"

"Yes."

Naruto smirked in a disturbingly Uchiha-like manner before saying, "You can use them for your paperwork."

Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage, the Professor, current God of Shinobi, and strongest Shinobi in the village, froze.

_Damn it! Why didn't I think of that!?_

"…"

"…"

"… Very well…. You can go to the Academy early…."

Naruto smirked again and left. As soon as the door was shut, the Sandaime Hokage slammed his head on the table.

Repeatedly.

"Damn it! Why didn't I think of that!?" He cried out.

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**11/30/15 EDITS: Spelling and grammar errors fixed, two scenes rewritten for better flow, other minor edits**


	3. Chapter 3

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Fate is a series of coincidences.

In Canon, Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Itachi met in a hotel, with the ages thirteen and eighteen respectively, the latter with intentions of kidnapping the former.

Something similar, perhaps, would have happened in this story as well, if it were not for one simple coincidence that altered the course of History.

Uzumaki Naruto was accepted into the academy two years earlier.

Two years, which in this version, put him in the same year as the genius academy student Uchiha Itachi. And, by coincidence, the two end up in the same class and meet on the first day of school.

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The first time Uchiha Itachi ever laid his eyes on Uzumaki Naruto was on his very first day of the Academy.

That day, Itachi had woken up early as usual and packed his backpack and went to school. He had walked into class feeling fairly confident, even if he kept his face as blank as he could. He sat down in a seat in the middle of the classroom and took out a pen and paper, getting ready to take notes during the class.

It was then that he noticed him.

A boy, at least a year younger than he, was sitting in the back of the room, long blond hair tied back into a low pony tail. Two strands of hair had been tied with bandages on either side of his face and his bangs hung just above his eyes. He had cold blue eyes that shone equally with both intelligence and indifference and he had three odd whisker like marks on each of his cheeks.

He had an odd presence about him, an almost aristocratic air. His face was completely indifferent, if a little aloof, but still managed to look proud. His eyes practically oozed self confidence and strength, and the way he held himself was tightly controlled. It reminded Itachi of a noble he'd seen surrounded by guards on the village streets, a noble of the Daimyo's court that had come to see the Hokage.

It captured Itachi's attention and filled the boy with wonder. How was it that there was a noble in the classroom with him?

Then, almost as if he could sense Itachi watching him, he looked down at Itachi and their eyes met. As Itachi looked into the boy's shards of icy blue, he felt an overwhelming presence behind those eyes. For a moment they seemed ancient and powerful, but when the boy looked away, it was gone once more.

The teacher chose then to walk in and start the class, gathering the attention of the wild children to the front of the classroom. The teacher started calling out names, and Itachi took the opportunity to observe his peers. The children of the class were mostly branch members of various families, with some civilians sitting around the classroom.

"Uchiha Itachi."

"Here."

The teacher paused and grimaced before calling out the next name, only adding fuel to the fire that was Itachi's curiosity, "… Uzumaki Naruto."

"Here."

It was the boy. Uzumaki? That wasn't a family name that he recognized. Then who was he?

It was then that Uzumaki Naruto became a puzzle that Itachi would try to solve.

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"T-tie?" The teacher sounded confused as he called the result of the match. Much of the class looked confused as well as they watched the two best fighters in the class step off the platform together.

But who wouldn't be after a match like the one they just had? It started out the same as all other matches of the day. It even proceeded the same as every other match of the day.

"_Next Match! Uchiha Itachi vs Uzumaki Naruto!" _the teacher had called, and the two fighters had stepped out onto the stage and fought, but when both of them were on the ground after several minutes of fighting, the two did something odd.

Itachi held out his hand to Naruto as an offer to help the other stand back up. Itachi saw something odd go through the Uzumaki's eyes before Naruto grabbed the outstretched hand, and Itachi couldn't shake the feeling that he had passed some sort of test.

"_Uzumaki Naruto," _the blond had introduced himself on the fighting platform after the two were both standing.

"_Uchiha Itachi," _the black haired boy had responded in kind.

Then the two left the platform, their fight remaining unfinished.

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"Onii-chan! Come on!" A blonde girl had called out to Naruto. The blond boy had then smiled, for the first time at Itachi had seen him do so, and taken her hand and the two left.

"_Tch."_ Itachi heard one of the adults say as they watched the two blondes. "_Demon. Demon and her guard. Why did Sandaime-sama even allow the guard into the academy? They'll kill us all one day. I know it."_

"_Shhh." _Another hushed, "_you know it's forbidden to speak of it."_

_Forbidden? What's forbidden? _Itachi had then wondered.

_Demon and her guard._

The phrase swirled around in Itachi's head as he pondered it on his way home.

_Demon and her guard._

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Months passed by, more fights occurred in class, more material was taught.

Both Naruto and Itachi excelled at everything asked of them. The two remained at a respectful distance, neither really being the best at approaching people to make friends, leaving Itachi to watch Naruto to try and figure out just who the blond was from a distance.

"_Uzumaki Naruto, 10 out of 10 targets hit."_

"_Onii-chan!"_

"_Look. It's _her _guard again."_

"_Listen here, don't go near him, okay? He's a very bad person and you'll get hurt by staying close to him."_

"_Uzumaki Naruto, hm? I heard he lives in the bad areas of town and hangs out with gangs and stuff, you know? Bad egg, I tell you. Never going to go anywhere."_

"_Why does he come here? He should know by now that none of us want him near. He should just stay away from us!"_

It wasn't until Itachi had really started to pay attention to the blond that he noticed just how infamous he was around town. Everyone recognized the bright blond hair and dark blue eyes. But they never looked at him nicely. It was always with mistrustful and hateful eyes that they looked at the blond. That didn't make any sense to Itachi.

Naruto was a genius, just like Itachi. They hated Naruto for the exact same thing that they praised him for. _Why? _Itachi wondered. _Is it because he is an orphan and I am from a clan? Is it because of someone he is related to? That their shame was passed onto him? Or is it something that I can't see?_

_Demon and her guard._

The phrase rang through his head like a broken record, replaying over and over again.

_Demon and her guard._

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**AN: Hello again! Here is the next chapter, hope you like it. Thank you to all who liked and favorited! It keeps me writing when I know people like the things that I post.**

**And a special thanks to **Not-Gonna-Update** for reviewing. To answer your questions:**

**No, Naruto is not the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi. Narumi, his younger twin sister is. Yes, he does in fact have the Uzumaki longevity and Chakra, he just doesn't have as much chakra as he does in canon, due to the fact that he is not a Jinchuriki, and, due to being the incarnation of a genius and not a dead-last, he has much better control over it. Sorry if the rewinds and fast forwards are confusing! It's a style of writing I've seen before in books and stuff that I wanted to try out for myself, and I'm not entirely sure I've got the hang of it just yet. I just don't want to go '_Flashback_' and '_Flashback end_' every time I need to go back i time and since there is a lot of skipping around in this story, I felt this was a better way to go about it. Hopefully I'll get better at it in the near future.**

**Once again, thanks for the likes and favorites! Please leave a review on your way out.**

**11/30/15 EDIT: Minor grammar and spelling errors corrected. Some sentences reworded. Other minor edits**


	4. Chapter 4

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_Ne, Itachi?_

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_You'll never leave me, right?_

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_After all, there is nowhere else to go._

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_So you'll stay._

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_Even if hell freezes_

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_Or the sky falls around us_

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_Or the entire world dies in a single moment_

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_You'll stay with me._

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_Right?_

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_Because everyone else is gone._

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_**She**_ _is gone._

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_They are gone._

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_Everyone is gone._

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_Where do they go?_

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_I wonder_

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_Where will I go?_

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_**I can't stand it.**_

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_Itachi?_

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_Promise me that you will never leave._

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_Promise that you'll stay._

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_Tell me that you'll always be there._

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_You love me don't you?_

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_So don't ever go._

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_Never die._

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_Never fall sick._

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_Never._

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_Itachi?_

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_I want you to know._

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_I love you, Itachi._

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I once stated that many millennia ago, the entire world was at war. I told you, briefly, of the sealing of the Shinju and the rise of the sage of six paths. And I once told you of the story of his two sons, Indra and Asura.

Indra and Asura, who fought even into death and beyond.

The two souls, reincarnated down and throughout the lines of their descendants, were wiped clean of their previous memories and experiences every time that they were reborn so that only the cores of who they were stayed alive when they opened their eyes in a new time. It was done this way so that an adult wouldn't be stuck in the body of a child, and so that no child would be able to try and do the things that only an adult could.

A child with the mind of an adult would be disastrous.

That's why Kami, or God, or Jashin, or the Fates, or whatever else you'd like to call them, decreed that every time the two brothers transcended, neither would remember their last life or any life.

But what if?

What if some of these memories snuck their way past the seal that kept all the past locked away and into the mind of a child? What if he could remember, even if only barely, who he was before?

When Uzumaki Naruto was born, somehow Indra and Asura switched. What if, because of that switch, Uzumaki Naruto gained just a little bit more than Chakra and Ideals from his predecessor?

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Uzumaki Naruto wasn't sure when it began.

The odd dreams and the thoughts that weren't his, that is.

He'd had them for as long as he could remember. They showed him as someone he was not, with not a family of just him and his younger sister, but one in which he had a younger brother, a powerful father, and a kind mother. He could never remember the specifics of the dreams, they always went away as soon as he awoke, but they left him with odd impressions and of all sorts of emotions.

Most of the time he did his best to ignore them. They were just dreams after all, right? Things that he saw when he was asleep at night and nothing more. They didn't matter to him when he was in the academy, or protecting his sister, or searching for their next meal.

Sometimes though . . . .

They affected him. They haunted him whenever he was asleep. Like they were trying to tell him something that he had forgotten. It was odd, beyond strange even, which was why he never told anyone.

Not even Narumi, for his sister wouldn't understand. She already had too much to deal with when it came to the villagers and the people that came near them. He couldn't burden her with his worries.

Especially something as foolish as dreams.

… Right?

It wasn't only dreams either. He got odd impressions when he was awake. A voice that was his own but wasn't at the same time who followed him around.

_Buffoons, the lot of them, _he sneered at the villagers one day, _People like them are the reason why Asura is wrong about compassion and peace._

Then he paused.

_Where did that come from?_

And then.

_Who is Asura?_

He never got his answer.

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Uchiha Hiro walked with his younger cousin home, his arms filled with groceries.

"Geez! Mikoto-sama sure wants a lot today. If I didn't know better I'd say she was hiding something with the amount of food she's been buying lately. But then again, her stomach has been getting pretty big lately, hm?" Hiro rambled on in an attempt to get his younger cousin talking.

But Itachi wasn't really paying any attention, rather he was thinking of something else. After a moment of contemplation he decided to ask what was on his mind.

"Hey, Hiro-san?"

Hiro glanced down at Itachi. "Hm, Itachi-kun?"

Itachi looked up at Hiro with a questioning look in his eyes, "What's it like to activate the Sharingan?"

"The Sharingan?" The elder Uchiha looked at his cousin curiously before thinking of an answer, "Well…. It's like the world around you suddenly is going in slow motion. All of the sudden you can see so much clearer, everything is so much brighter. It made me think that before then, I had been blind."

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_Clang_

Itachi turned and looked to see where the sound came from.

_Clash Clang_

_Fighting? Who's fighting here? _He wondered as his feet took his toward the sound. A man dressed like an ANBU, but with the mask being completely blank, landed in front of him and quickly launched himself at the other figure in the alleyway. Itachi only needed to catch a glimpse of tell-tale golden hair before he pulled a kunai and leapt into battle to assist Naruto.

He dodged a swipe of the man's sword, then ducked as Naruto leaped over him and attempted to stab the man with Naruto's own blade. The figure dodged with ease and leaped back, drawing shuriken and throwing them at the two academy students. Itachi and Naruto barely managed to dodge, before they leapt at their opponent again. As they fought, it quickly became apparent that the shinobi was far better at fighting than the two of them combined. Itachi and Naruto had survived as long as they had in the fight more by luck than by anything else.

Then, as the next swipe of a sword came his way, the world abruptly slowed around him.

"_It's like the world around you suddenly is going in slow motion. All of the sudden you can see so much clearer, everything is so much brighter. It made me think that before then, I had been blind."_

He moved, faster than ever before, and dodged the swipe. With a fresh kunai in hand he lunged forward and drove the kunai into the man's chest. All movement around him ceased as the body slumped over onto the ground. The kunai slid out of the man's chest with a sickening _sluck. _Itachi looked down at the kunai and his reflection in it.

A pair of red eyes with one tomoe in one and two in the other swirling lazily around his pupils stared back at him.

"Itachi?"

Itachi looked up again, and felt his eyes widen.

_But… How?_

Red eyes meet red eyes as a blond haired Uzumaki's and a black haired Uchiha's gazes met.

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The two stared at each other for a moment, Itachi's mind whirling and trying to make sense of the situation and Naruto trying to figure out how to run damage control.

Then Naruto spoke.

"I suppose you'll want answers?" he questioned almost casually.

"Hn," Itachi managed.

"_Che._ Fine, follow me."

The two started walking, and as they did so Itachi's mind was whirling with possibilities.

_Could Naruto be an Uchiha? _He wondered.

And then,

_Why didn't I know?_

As they walked, Itachi could be described as the definition calm and composed, if not for the kunai that he'd used to kill the shinobi attacking Naruto being fiddled in his right hand. He looked to where they were headed, the Red-light district, in an attempt to help distract his mind.

"_I heard he lives in the bad areas of town and hangs out with gangs and stuff, you know?"_

The villager's voice echoed in his mind. Then Naruto really did live in the Red-light District? Or was Naruto taking him somewhere else?

They passed by several clubs before stopping before an old apartment building. The stairs looked a bit unstable, but Naruto marched up the steps and past the first floor, second, and third. As the pair made their way down the hall, Itachi took note of the words scrawled in all sorts of hand writings on the walls.

_Monster. Die. Demon. Stay Away._

Finally, Naruto stopped in front of a door and opened it to head inside.

"Onii-chan!" Another blonde promptly tackled Naruto.

"Hello, Narumi. Would you mind making some tea? We have a guest." Naruto gestured to Itachi.

Narumi watched Itachi for a moment before grinning widely and running back inside to where Itachi presumed to be the kitchen. Meanwhile, Naruto walked over to a low table and took a seat on the floor on the side opposite of the entrance.

"Sorry for the intrusion," Itachi said as he stepped inside and took his place across from Naruto.

The two sat in silence for a moment before Itachi couldn't wait any longer.

"How?"

"I don't know."

"How long?"

"Two weeks."

The two fell into silence again before Naruto sighed and started to explain, "I'm an orphan. An orphan with no idea who my parents are. Because of this, I don't know why I have the eyes that I do. Just that I have them. No one but Narumi, you, and me knows about my eyes. I get the feeling that it's better to keep them a secret."

"Ah."

The two fell into silence once more, neither really being the talkative type, but Itachi soon broke it again to ask a question that had been plaguing his mind.

"What do they mean by '_The Demon and her Guard?_'"

Naruto raised an eyebrow then leaned back, "Ah… That's a complicated question…"

Naruto surveyed at Itachi, judging how much he could give away, before continuing.

"…How about I tell you a story?"

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**AN: Hello again! Itachi and Naruto activate their sharingans and Itachi finally solves a little bit of the puzzle that is Uzumaki Naruto! Hm? Whats that? The part at the beginning? A sneak peak of sorts into the future. What you make of it is what you do.**

**11/30/15 EDITS: Spelling and grammar errors fixed, other minor edits**


	5. Chapter 5

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Four years can bring about the most unexpected changes. Sometimes they are good, and other times not so much. The revelation of the Kyuubi is one such change. For who waits until they are twelve before they figure out the largest secret of their life? And even then, what are the odds it's the enemy that tells them?

In Canon Uzumaki Naruto is the dead-last. He is an idiot, and at the same time a practical genius. He works for every scrap of power he has, and has a luck that helps him immensely. He is naïve and at the same time not, and his entire life is full of inconsistencies and secrets. One might go on to speculate that perhaps he did figure out everything earlier, only he ignored it and blocked it out as to continue on with his life without the hardships. For it is easier to think you are hated for no reason at all than to know that you have a demon sealed within you.

Right?

For all the clues are there for him to grasp. The names, the seal, his birth, and so many other things. One cannot possibly go without at least suspicion of this, right?

However, Naruto was a dead-last. And Naruto was Innocent. And Naruto didn't want to figure out what was wrong.

So he didn't, not until Mizuki yelled it out to him as a mere scare tactic in the first chapter.

In here, perhaps Naruto might have been the same. Most children don't want to know that their sister houses a demon. Most children don't have the knowledge to know what the seal on another's stomach could mean. Most children wouldn't understand the ramblings of angry drunks or could comprehend the reasons behind anger, hate, and fear.

This story's Uzumaki Naruto isn't most children.

Yes, he doesn't know for a long while. For how could he? He is four when he enters the academy. Barely a child at all. At four he wouldn't be able to put everything together. At least not yet. But a child like him couldn't ignore the signs for long before something clicks.

And when it clicks.

The world comes crashing down.

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When was it, exactly, that Naruto first figured out what was different with Narumi? When the name calling started? When the drunken mob chased them? When Naruto saw the seal on Narumi's stomach for the first time?

Perhaps it was before that.

Because Naruto always knew Narumi was different.

She drew the villager's hatred like bugs to a nightlight, and despite all of his genius, Naruto had nothing more than speculation as to why. He always questioned why, and sometimes in the middle of his frustration and anger at the villagers he would scream the question to the world, at the crowds, only to be laughed at like the answer was obvious.

And perhaps it was. They were born on _that_ day weren't they? October 10th.

The day that everything went to hell.

The day that the Kyuubi attacked.

The day the Fourth died.

But it wasn't until he started to listen to the drunken rantings of the people who attacked them that the Idea entered his mind.

_Demon, Monster, Devil, Traitor, Betrayer, Murderer,_

_**Fox**__._

But even then the Idea still didn't make any sense. It couldn't possibly be something like that.

_You're a genius aren't you?_ His mind whispered to him. _All the clues are there. Figure it out._

And he did. But even after he did he rejected it because it couldn't be that, could it? It was an absurd notion. So he always told himself that he didn't know. And for a long time that was true. After all, Narumi was his cute, innocent, little sister, wasn't she? She couldn't possibly house **that**, right?

But too many coincidences piled up until the paranoia that Naruto held finally prompted Naruto to open his eyes.

Everything suddenly _clicked_.

And he couldn't ignore the Idea any more.

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"…How about I tell you a story?"

Itachi raised an eyebrow at the blond, even as Naruto took a deep breath and sighed.

"Once upon a time there was a Shinobi village," Naruto began, closing his eyes as if he was remembering something, "They were a relatively peaceful bunch, and nothing too eventful ever happened. The third Shinobi war had just ended, so no one was worrying about anything. But on October 10th, that changed."

Itachi kept his eyebrow raised as he listened to the story. It was something he already knew. Who didn't know about the Kyuubi attack, after all? He watched the blond speculatively and absently noted that the boy's eyes were darker than that first day at the academy. Whereas they were once a blue not unlike the sky, they had become more like a stormy day.

"On that day a giant fox came out of nowhere and started to attack the village. It destroyed buildings and killed many people, and would have killed more had the fourth leader of the village not shown up to fight the beast. But on that day, something other than the beast attacking happened, and it left a bittersweet taste in the mouths of all involved. A mother had just given birth to twins, and lost her life during the process. The father got killed by the beast. The two babies were parentless and just so happened to be there at the right time on the right day. Because the beast that attacked the village isn't a normal beast. It was a tailed beast. And Tailed Beasts _can't die_."

Itachi's eyes widened as he thought of what Naruto was implying with that statement. It the beast wasn't dead, then what happened to it? It wasn't here anymore, and there were no reports of the Kyuubi showing up anywhere else in the elemental nations. And everyone had been told that the Kyuubi had been killed. If the fox hadn't been killed, then why was this? How do you make a fox taller than the Hokage monument disappear? Then it hit him. _Doesn't that mean that…?_

"So the fourth took the younger of the two blond twins and did the only thing he could to stop the beast. He sealed it inside the baby, sacrificing his life in exchange for the seal. And thus the village was safe once more. The people of the village found out that one of the two newborns held the beast, and immediately called for its execution. The third denied this request and sent both the children to an orphanage to be raised. He passed a law to forbid anyone talking of the subject, and left thinking that the two children would grow up to be loyal ninja for the village. And thus Narumi became the jinchuriki for the Kyuubi, I became her guard, and we both gained the hatred of everyone in the village."

The silence reigned once more, the eldest of the two digesting the information and the other gauging the other's reaction. The story swirled around in Itachi's head as he thought it over and came to his own conclusions. Finally, Itachi made his decision. He stood and started to walk away.

"Itachi?"

Itachi paused and turned to look at the younger boy. He gave a small smile and said, "I'll see you at school tomorrow, Naruto-kun."

Naruto smiled then, something flickering behind his eyes as he watched the other, "Hn. I'll see you tomorrow then."

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The next day when Itachi came into class, he did not go to his usual seat near the front of the class. Instead, he walked right past it and promptly took a seat right next to Naruto. The class' reaction?

They gaped.

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**AN: I have discovered something worrisome... I can't write fight scenes... Like at all... Help!**

**Here is the next chapter, I hope you like it. From this point on things are going to speed up a little bit. We'll introduce another character and brush over what happens between now and three-and-a-half-ish years from now. That's when shit hits the fan and the entire story really gets rolling. Hehe, I wonder if anyone can guess what happens at that point...**

**See you next chapter! Please leave a review on your way out!**

**11/30/15 EDITS: Spelling and grammar errors fixed, other minor edits**


	6. Chapter 6

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What does it take to make a sane man go mad?

A wide variety of things, one might suppose, would predispose one to madness. Everything from grief and loss to unimaginable pain can make a person lose their grip on reality and fall into the pit of insanity.

Death might make one go mad.

Not just near death of one's own person, but rather the death those around them, and the guilt of having outlived them. The death of others and the drive to go after what caused them to die might make one go mad with an obsession with power.

And then there is the quiet madness. The madness that is born from guilt or obsession or all manner of other things that festers below the surface and boils and burns without anyone noticing until it is far too late.

Madara went mad.

He lost his brother and the grief overwhelmed him, stewing in his mind until he couldn't take it anymore and left. His was a slow madness, caused by a single event that destroyed the fragile grip he had on reality, until reality wasn't good enough anymore and only a dream would do.

Obito went mad.

Even with all his effort and all his hard work to get back home after being crushed, he comes back only to see the woman he loves die by the hand of the man he trusted her to. It shattered him, a madness that swarmed up suddenly, that took hold the moment that it arrived and never let go.

Orochimaru went mad.

For all his genius and prodigy, he was still second best. He excelled at everything, and yet he failed and he lost and it cracked him. Piece. By. Piece. And the grief took hold in a different form than some, and left him uncaring for social values and limitations.

Kakashi went mad.

He lost, and he mourned. He got better, only to lose again. He grips all that he has so tightly, for fear that they will leave, and yet they disappear on him one by one. So he pushed everyone away, for if no one is there, then how could he lose again? That too is a form of madness. The madness of hiding behind a mask.

Nagato went mad.

Sasuke went mad.

Danzo went mad.

Tsunade went mad.

Jiraiya, Deidara, Yagura, Killer Bee, Sasori, and Kaguya.

All of them went mad.

And most of them never turned back.

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It was only a few months after the incident that the pair graduated, becoming the two youngest people to graduate since Hatake Kakashi. The days had moved by quickly, and Itachi had found a friend in the blond haired sharingan user and his sister. He often times went over to Naruto's apartment, despite it being in a not-so-well looked upon part of town, and twice Naruto had gone to visit Itachi in the Uchiha District.

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Naruto walked over to where Itachi was sitting on the veranda and looked curiously at the bundle in Itachi's arms. "This is the brother you mentioned?"

Itachi smiled softly as he looked down at the bundle. "Yes. His name is Sasuke."

Naruto tilted his head to one side and pursed his lips. He felt something nagging him in the back of his head, telling him that he's missing something. There was something familiar about the baby in front of him.

_Remember…_ It whispered, _Remember and never forget…_

_But remember what? _He cried back at his mind. He searched for an answer, furrowing his brows as he did so, looking for a reason why the little brother of his only friend seemed so familiar.

"_These are my sons. Go on, introduce yourselves."_

"_My name is ... ! Nice to meet 'cha!"_

_"Good to meet you too. And you are?"_

_"Hn. My name is-"_

"Naruto?"

Naruto snapped out of his thoughts when he realized Itachi was looking at him with a worried expression.

"Are you alright?"

Naruto blinked once, then nodded, "Yes. I am fine."

The response felt empty.

Itachi looked skeptical. "You're sure? You zoned out for a while there."

"I'm fine. Really," Naruto stated once again as he took a seat next to Itachi on the veranda.

Itachi frowned, still not believing his friend.

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"What are you hiding?"

Naruto appeared slightly startled as he looked over at Itachi. The black haired boy had a serious expression on his face, and his eyes shone with worry.

"What?"

"You keep spacing out recently. Ever since you met Sasuke," Itachi elaborated.

Naruto frowned and leaned back. The two were sitting in a small clearing in the woods of Konoha. There was a river running through the clearing and at night, it was silent beyond the sound of water running over pebbles.

"..."

Naruto stayed silent as he looked up at the sky from where he sat. The sky was full of stars, all shining down on the two of them. The moon, too, was there. It was full that night, and Naruto couldn't help but feel drawn to it on nights like these. It always tugged on his memories, tantalizing and forever out of his reach.

"Naruto?" Itachi broke the silence once more.

"I'm not really hiding anything," Naruto finally responded. "I just don't like bringing it up."

"Bringing what up?" Itachi pushed. He had let the issue slip away before, but he didn't like seeing his friend like this. So distant, it reminded him of when they first met rather than the friends the two had become.

Where they not best friends? Itachi wasn't even as close with his cousin Shisui as he was with the blond. He had thought Naruto would maybe, just maybe, trust him by this point.

Naruto grimaced and sighed, before plopping back on the ground and putting his hands behind his head. He opened his eyes, for he had closed them at one point, and stared up at the stars. They really were beautiful.

"Dreams."

Itachi tilted his head as he looked down at Naruto. "Dreams?"

"Yes. Dreams. But I can never remember them. And it's not just at night. They're there constantly. I always feel like there is something I have forgotten."

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_Everything was blurred. Colors blended together until everything was brown and blue and green and he couldn't tell one thing from another. A person stood before him. He could tell the boy was grinning._

"_Nii-san! Spar with me!"_

_He could hear himself scoff, "Really, Otouto?" Little brother? But he didn't have a little brother, "You're not strong enough yet."_

"_But I have gotten better! Tou-san said so!" The boy huffed, crossing his arms. Why couldn't he see the boy's face? Why did the boy seem so familiar?_

"_Even if he did, I'm still stronger than you. After all, you're … the Dead Last, and I'm … the Genius."_

_Why couldn't he hear the names? He could never hear the names…. _

" … _? … ? What are you two doing?" Another figure entered, "Don't tell me my boys are fighting again. What would your father say?"_

"_Sorry Kaa-san!" Both he and the boy chorused. _

"_Thats better," The woman smiled down at them and held out her arms, "Come give your mother a hug, hm?"_

_He felt himself smiling, before running over to her. She was so warm. So familiar. How could he forget this?_

Naruto's eyes snapped open and it took him a moment to realize that he was crying. He quickly wiped them away with one of his hands, before letting it drop back to his side. He stared at the ceiling for what seemed like forever, thinking over the dream. It was so confusing, seeing these things. But even now, as he tried to cling to the dream and the feeling of warmth that came with it, it slipped away like water between his fingers. Why was he having these dreams? What did they mean? What was he forgetting? Because he knew he was forgetting something.

He felt like he wasn't seeing the whole picture, and that there was a crucial piece missing that he needed to find before he could understand. But that piece was nowhere to be found, and it left him feeling empty.

_What am I forgetting?_

He wondered, before falling back asleep.

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**11/30/15 EDITS: Spelling and grammar errors fixed, other minor edits**


	7. Chapter 7

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The saying 'The calm before the storm' is a common one. It refers to the silence that comes before a hurricane, when all the birds have fled to far off lands and the entire world seems to be holding its breath.

The wind then picks up, and before anyone knows it the winds have uprooted trees and the rain has drowned the world.

The calm before the storm can aptly describe many situations. In Canon, you could say that the academy was the calm before the storm right before Naruto's first C-rank turned A-rank. You could say that the moments between that mission and their disastrous Chunin exams was also the calm before the storm, for it was the Chunin exams were everything truly began.

No matter the situation that the phrase is used to describe, it is always a prelude. A prelude to danger. A prelude to disaster. A prelude to death.

It is when everything quiets down, and people fall into the monotony of everyday routine. The days all seem to blur together, and people are happy. They live entirely unaware of the darkness that swirls in the shadows. But then the winds pick up, and the entire world changes.

_The calm before the storm_ indeed.

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"Shisui, this is Naruto. Naruto-kun, this is Shisui."

Itachi watched the pair as they stared at one another for a moment, before Shisui, in a typical Shisui fashion, casually put his hands behind his head and cracked a grin, saying, "Yo! You need to lighten up, little yellow."

That made Naruto smirk and respond with, "Are you sure you aren't adopted?"

Itachi was hard pressed not to laugh at Shisui's shocked face.

And so every time since then, Shisui joined them when they trained.

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"Ne, Itachi?" Naruto asked one day.

They had been walking to Naruto's apartment after a team training session. After the two had graduated the academy they had been placed on team 3 under a jonin named Hisui. The third member of their team was a girl named Kaeda, who (thankfully) wasn't an Itachi fangirl. Getting along with the girl was slow going at times, as she disliked the idea of being on a team with two kids younger than her, but in the end she was still willing to work with them. The sensei was a good one too, even if both Itachi and Naruto could see the slightly wary gaze that the man sometimes sent Naruto's way.

"Yes, Naruto-kun?"

"Do you have any dreams?"

"Dreams?" Itachi cocked his head a bit to one side, "What do you mean?"

"I don't know… Dreams for the future, I suppose."

Itachi pursed his lips as he thought about it, mulling it over in his head as he pondered.

"Peace," He decided on, "I wish for peace."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at his friend, "Peace?"

Itachi nodded, "I hate the violence in the world. I hope to see the world get along one day, even if it is only for a short while."

Naruto continued to stare at Itachi for a moment before he cracked a smile and looked up at the sky, "Yeah… That sounds nice… But, who knew _my_ Itachi was a pacifist?"

At Itachi's sputters, Naruto snickered.

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The days all seemed to blur together as time passed. The two settled into a comforting routine of D-ranks, training, and relaxation with either one another or Narumi and Shisui. It was comforting, and as the months passed by they felt happy.

They celebrated one another's birthdays. Sasuke said his first words. Naruto and Itachi mastered their sharingans. Narumi entered the academy. The world was at peace, and they were happy.

That changed one day.

The day Kumo came to sign a treaty with Konoha.

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In Canon, when the Third Shinobi War ended, all 5 of the great shinobi villages went back home to lick their wounds. A few years after that, ambassadors were sent between the various villages to sign peace treaties, and Kumo took advantage of this in order to try and kidnap the Hyuuga Heiress on her third birthday. The result is what we know as the 'Hyuuga Affair', wherein Neji's father dies in order to spare the clan head's life.

In here, due to the heiress not having been born yet, the treaty went without such incident. However people are greedy, and eventually when push comes to shove, people act.

So Kumo sends another ambassador, several years after the first. Kumo sends another ambassador, offering an alliance or a trade agreement. Kumo sends another ambassador, in order to gain a bloodline that was not theirs.

And that's where everything goes wrong.

For what is fate, if not coincidence?

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_Hurry…. I have to hurry..._

The moon shone brightly. Naruto could see every crack in the walls and on the ground. He could see every fleck of dust in the air. It was all so clear, the clan compounds were nearly as bright as day too his sharingan eyes.

He was running as fast as he could. He had to get there as soon as possible. He had heard that person's scream. He couldn't leave that person alone. What if something had happened? What if someone had decided to make a move? No. He wouldn't let that happen. He couldn't. It would kill him.

Naruto turned the corner, and then froze at what he saw.

_No… It can't possibly be…_

But it was.

A man dressed all in black, carrying a black sack over his shoulder just the right size to hold a small child swiped the sword down on the figure in front of him. The figure collapsed on the ground, and didn't move.

_Drip… Drip…_

Blood fell off the blade and onto the pool of it forming on the ground. The figure didn't move. The tiny, fragile figure didn't move. The figure was only about 7 years old, the same age as him. The figure was petite, from lack of food early on and from training hard in the academy. The figure's long hair was free from its usual braid and sprayed out behind the figure, dyed red with the figure's own blood. The figure's chest was slashed open, deep and violently enough that bone gleamed in the starlight. The figure didn't move.

_Why didn't the figure move?_

"_Narumi!_"

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_Once upon a time there was a bird_

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_The bird loved to fly and see the world_

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_But then one day the bird was shot_

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_And the bird flew no more._

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**AN: Greetings readers! did you like that last bit? *cowers away from pitchforks and torches* Okay! Okay! I get it! You hate cliff hangers! Don't worry. I'll try and get the next chapter out quickly.**

**On another note! How many of you guessed that this was going to happen? No one guessed it in a review... Or in a PM... So I have no idea. Maybe none of you did. v.v People did seem to like Narumi too, so I'm sad that she has to end like this. Ah well... It needed to be done...**

**One last thing before I go! Someone mentioned to me in a PM that they were having trouble keeping track of the ages of the characters, so I'm going to start leaving the ages of the characters as of when the chapter ends here in the AN. Currently, Itachi is 9, Naruto is 7, and the Rookie 9 are all 3-ish.**

**That's all! Leave a review on your way out!**

**11/30/15 EDITS: Spelling and grammar errors fixed, other minor edits**


	8. Chapter 8

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The aftermath of something traumatic is experienced differently from person to person. Some get angry, others cry. Some go into denial, others smile. It all varies depending on both the person and the event.

For Naruto, the entire world froze.

Cracks appeared on the edge of his world and nothing existed except him and Narumi. Poor poor Narumi.

He heard someone scream and knew somewhere in the back his mind that it was him. But that didn't matter, because there was a body on the floor and it belonged to his little sister and she wasn't supposed to die she couldn't be dead she must be sleeping but the wound and the blood and why why whywhywhy_why__**why**_.

He was hyperventilating, he knew, but he didn't care. None of it mattered. There was just him and his sister. Him and his sister.

Then everything went black, and movement came back to the world.

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Itachi ran as fast as he could. He heard a scream that he knew belonged to Narumi, and Naruto's shout had followed soon after. So he ran and arrived but a moment later, only to see Naruto on his knees and shaking.

A body lay in front of him, the assailant had apparently fled, and a large pool of blood had formed beneath the two.

Naruto's wheezes turned into an anguished cry and he gripped the sides of his head with his hands. Naruto's sharingan flared, then morphed, twisting and churning within his iris. But Itachi didn't pay attention to that, it could be dealt with later. First he had to snap Naruto out of his trance.

He did the only thing he could think of, he grabbed Naruto and pulled him against him, laying one hand over the blond's eyes.

"Shhh… Calm down…. I'm here…." He whispered so that only Naruto could hear.

Naruto stilled, his trembling stopping as he stiffened up against the touch. Then he relaxed and collapsed backwards against Itachi's chest and let out an odd hiccuping sound.

"I-Itachi?"

"Yes… Its me…. I'm here…."

"B-but Narumi, she-" Naruto's words seemed to catch in his throat before he let out a sob that wracked his body.

"I know."

Narumi was dead.

That was when ANBU arrived on the scene.

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The assailant had been caught. He ran into an ANBU patrol who, upon seeing the suspicious figure, apprehended him. It was the Kumo Shinobi who had been sent to set up the trade agreement. He had snuck his way into the Hyuuga compound and stole the Hyuuga heiress. He left the compound but upon hopping over the wall he ran into Narumi.

Narumi had just been there by coincidence. She'd just been passing by when he ran into her. And he had lashed out and killed her.

Narumi's death was an accident.

Nothing more, nothing less.

Narumi's funeral was a small affair, and only a few people attended. The Hokage went and stayed for a while. An ANBU wearing a dog mask that Naruto had seen rescue Narumi a few times from the occasional drunk showed up briefly as well. Shisui showed up too. The two had gotten on rather well, Shisui and Narumi that was, their personalities matched one another to a T, and he had enjoyed spending time with her. The two people that spent the most time there, though, was Naruto and Itachi.

They sat in front of the grave once it had been filled in and stayed there all day, staring at the stone with her name on it.

_Uzumaki Narumi_

It wasn't until the sun had set that the two went home.

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People react to grief in strange ways. Some people close themselves off, others drown themselves in drink and pleasure. Some put on masks and pretend nothing is wrong, only to break down in private.

Naruto did none of that and he did all of that.

Naruto hadn't lived very long. He was seven years old. Just _seven_. Seven short years was all the time that he had lived. During those seven years he's had to deal with much, forcing him to age himself beyond his physical form. He'd been chased down by a mob. He'd stolen money, food, clothing. He'd gone days without food for the benefit of his sister. He'd slept sleepless nights, his dreams leaving him confused and lonely. He'd worked hard and been pushed down, only to grab hold of the first opportunity to rise back up and stay upright.

He'd seen pain. He'd seen love. He'd been hurt. He'd been healed. He's experienced so much in his short 7 years.

But despite having experienced all this, he has never been forced to deal with grief.

For all the times things have been stolen from him, he's never once lost.

Not even once had he lost a precious person.

If only because he'd had so few.

So when he loses one of his few precious people, and such an important one too, he breaks on the inside.

And that is perhaps what changes things the most.

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"What's been up with you lately?" asked Itachi.

Naruto could see in his eyes that he looked worried. And he had a right to be, Naruto mused. He had been off lately. He kept getting angry at the smallest of things and losing control over his mask.

"I'm fine," Naruto replied despite this. He didn't want to load all his problems over Itachi. For all that he trusted the older male, he simply couldn't let everything go. He was far too used to holding it all in, to bottling it up and only breaking down when he was completely alone. To do anything else would be foolish. After all, there wasn't a person he had yet met that wouldn't take advantage of a person's weaknesses, "I've just been feeling a bit off rece-"

"No!" Itachi cut him off, "You're not! You're far more violent than you've ever been! You keep losing yourself, and it's not like you. What's wrong? Can't you tell me? Have I not proven trustworthy enough for your secrets?"

Naruto looked startled at the expression on Itachi's face. It was so full of frustration and sadness and anger and was so far gone from the usual indifferent mask that Itachi wore that it left Naruto speechless for a moment. Naruto's lips thinned and he looked down, unable to meet Itachi's eyes.

"I- … It's just- … I've just- … Ever since Narumi- …. " Naruto blinked, his vision had gone all fuzzy and he felt something wet on his cheeks. It took a moment for him to realize he was crying. Crying, in front of another person, was something he hadn't done since he was 3 or 4. And now he was crying?

Suddenly warm arms enveloped him and he couldn't help but lean into the touch.

"It's okay. You can let go," Itachi's voice whispered in his ear and he couldn't help but think _No… I can't ever let go… I'm far too gone to ever let go…_ But he let go anyways, and he started crying. He wrapped his arms around Itachi, who just stood there like a solid rock for Naruto to cling too. And so Naruto cried a long bawling cry and Itachi stayed with him while Naruto broke down. When all was said and done, Naruto just leaned against Itachi and stayed silent as the two stared up at the stars above them.

"I hate my name," Naruto said suddenly.

"Your name?" Itachi questioned.

"Yes, my name," Said Naruto.

"Why?"

And that was the question, wasn't it? But the answer was so simple, it was laughable.

"Because my name makes me 'Naruto'. The name 'Naruto' is of a shinobi of the hidden leaf. 'Naruto' is the Demon's Guard. 'Naruto' lost his sister to a Kumo shinobi. 'Naruto' bears the hatred of the civilians of this village. 'Naruto' only has one true friend. I don't want to be 'Naruto' anymore."

Itachi was silent for a while and for a bit, Naruto thought he had fallen asleep. But then, Itachi responded.

"Then don't be Naruto. Be whoever you want to be."

Naruto smiled, one of his rare true smiles.

"Then if I wanted to change my name, would you call me something else?"

"Of course."

"I want to change my name."

"Then who do you want to be?"

"..."

Naruto fell silent as he thought it over. He mulled it over in his mind before finally settling on a name.

"Indra. I would want to be Indra."

Naruto didn't know why he chose that name. But it felt familiar, and made his blood sing. So he chose that name, he wanted to be Indra. He hated Naruto. Naruto had suffered so much, far too much. Indra, however, hadn't experienced anything yet. So he would be Indra, not Naruto. He would be Indra.

"Then to me, you are and forever will be, Indra," Itachi replied.

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**AN: There we go! Not the best chapter, I think, but an important one. Here we start to see Naruto's decent into madness, because that's what this story is about.**

**Naruto's decent into madness.**

**After this point in time you're going to start to see a change in Itachi's and Naruto's relationship. This story is going to get much darker coming up soon, just to warn you. No romance yet, either. They are going to get closer but romance doesn't start up until Itachi is 13-ish and Naruto is 11-ish. Currently Itachi is 9 and Naruto is 7.**

**11/30/15 EDITS: Spelling and grammar errors fixed, other minor edits**


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